Mars High Temperatures

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Posted: November 6, 2012 1:37 PM

I missed this story when it came out last month:

Weather On Mars Surprisingly Warm, Curiosity Rover Finds.
by SPACE.com Staff
Date: 01 October 2012 Time: 07:00 AM ET
"If this warm trend carries on into summer, we might even be able to foresee temperatures in the 20s [Celsius], and that would be really exciting from a habitability point of view," Gómez said. "In the daytimes, we could see temperatures high enough for liquid water on a regular basis. But it’s too soon to tell whether that will happen or whether these warm temperatures are just a blip.”[link]

I think the idea of what seem to be perfectly habitable conditions is a game changer, but there has been little or no discussion. I guess there isn't much to say other than, wow, yes, temperatures are above 0 C and possibly as high as 20 C. This is not really new, since we have had orbital measurements of ground temperatures up to 20C near the equator, I think those measurements were from MGS

http://marsprogram.jpl.nasa.gov/mgs/

T D

Posts: 7

Reply: 3

Posted: November 10, 2012 6:11 PM

Does anyone know where I can get the surface temperature measurements ( not the air temps). I'd like to compare MSL measurements with the measurements by astronomers using thermocouples from the last century. The have peak temp measurements of 40 - 70 degrees F and hire. Modern scientists do not seem to be aware of these measurements, which appear much more credible now. Thanks.

The Winds Still Blow in Thin but Active Martian Atmosphere.
http://www.americaspace.com/?p=33999&cpage=1

It is notable that daytime ground temperatures are above the air temperatures. Eyeballing the ground temperature plot, I estimate the highest ground temperature reached as about 15 C, about 60 F. Depending on the amount of water vapor in the air near the surface this could allow small amounts of water to condense to liquid for short periods.
It would be interesting to find out if the relative humidity would allow water to condense on the surface in the thin Martian atmosphere.

How The World's Saltiest Pond Gets Its Salt; Implications For Water On Mars.
by Staff Writers
Providence RI (SPX) Feb 11, 2013[link]

It discusses the famous Don Juan Pond in Antarctica that manages to remain liquid all year round despite subfreezing temperatures.
In addition to snow melt, the researchers observations suggest nearby areas of high salt content suck water vapor out of the air during peaks of high humidity. Because of the freezing point depression characteristic of salts this water vapor can then condense to liquid even in subfreezing temperatures.
The researchers observed water tracks in these high salt regions and expect that this seeps underground and flows underground into Don Juan Pond.
Because of the high amount of salts on Mars this process could also happen there. Then we would want to look for such tracks during peaks of high humidity on Mars. MSL Curiosity does have humidity sensors but it's unclear whether they have reported reliable readings yet.

The author of this blog discusses the problems with the MSL humidity sensors:

The author of the blog seems to have a particular point of view (for instance he believes the pressures on Mars are much higher than expected) still he discusses in depth the readings reported by NASA from the various Mars spacecraft.